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Bidding Information
Lot #    11446
Auction End Date    8/16/2005 1:32:00 PM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Sepurei Zadikim
Title (Hebrew)    ספורי צדיקים
Author    [Hasidim - First Ed.] Michael L. Frumkin-Rodkinson
City    Lemberg
Publisher    (S. L. Kugel, Lewin et Comp.)
Publication Date    1864
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    First edition. [40] pp., 181:123 mm., wide margins, wormhole in margin, light age staining. A very good copy bound in modern cloth boards.
          
Detailed
Description		    Collection of Hasidic stories, one of a series of similar collections of Hassidic tales written by Michael Levi Frumkin, better known today as Rodkinson. Rodkinson, at the time that he wrote these books, was, in his own words, “a flaming Hasid.” He later became a maskil, and denied the authenticity of the stories in these books. The validity of those denials has been challenged, perhaps made to distance himself from his Hasidic background. This edition omits any mention of Frumkin-Rodkinson’s name and the introduction in which he describes his reasons for writing and publishing Shivhei ha-Rav. These collections, beginning with Shivhei ha-Rav, are important, because they have made their way into general anthologies of Hasidic tales without mention of Frumkin-Rodkinson’s name, and are accepted by many who would be otherwise be skeptical if they were aware of the identity of the author. Of even greater import, is what has been described as the success of Frumkinian Hasidism, based on works such as Shivhei ha-Rav, among non-Hasidic Jewry, attributable to its “submersion of the true nature of Hasidic mystical leadership” and, even more importantly, to the fact that it did not stress the fulfillment of commandments, but rather, “emphasized universal ethical values . . .”

Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845-1904) was the scion of a distinguished Hassidic family who became a radical proponent of haskalah at an early age. He was a prolific writer. He is best remembered for his New Talmud, an early and poor translation of the Babvylonian Talmud into English. He collected, wrote, published, and perhaps fabricated, Hasidic tales, as noted above, and was, as the editor of Hebrew journals, among the pioneers of the Hebrew press, and the author of numerous monographs.

          
Paragraph 2    מארבעה מטיבי לכת ... ר' ליב שרהעס ... ר' ליב מספאלע ... רבי ישראל פאלעצקער, וגם ... ר' עזריאל תלמיד חבר לר"י פאלעצקער ... הובא לביה"ד ע"י ... ר' מיכאל לוי פרומקין נ"י. שנת עולה על גביהן ה'כ'ת'ר' שם טוב

בהוצאה זו הוכנסו שינויים: א. ר' ליב מספאלע הוזכר בשער ובהקדמה, ב. הסיפורים עליו הוקדמו ל"סיפורי ... ר' ישראל פאלעצקר", ג. דברי החתימה של "הכותב" הושמטו. באותו מקום ובאותה שנה ובאותו עימוד ואצל אותו מדפיס יצאה הוצאה נוספת בסדר שונה.
          
Reference
Description		    CD-EPI 0180369; Dan, “A Bow to Frumkinian Hasidism,” Modern Judaism XI (1991), pp. 175-193; Heller, “He should be called be called Sama-el. Michael Levi Rodkinson: The Life and literary Career of a Jewish Scoundrel Revisited,” Jewish Culture and History (forthcoming).
        
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Listing Classification
Period
19th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Russia-Poland:    Checked
  
Subject
Hasidic:    Checked
  
Characteristic
First Editions:    Checked
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica